HB 143 — The improper relationship between educator and student

90R3364 MEW-F By: Guillen H.B. No. 143 relating to the improper relationship between educator and student, including the statute of limitations for and the applicability of sex offender registration requirements to the offense, the rights and protection of victims of the offense, and the punishment of certain acts committed in furtherance of the offense.

SECTION 1. Article 7B.001(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows: (a) The following persons may file an application for a protective order under this subchapter without regard to the relationship between the applicant and the alleged offender: (1) a person who is the victim of an offense under Section 20A.02, 20A.03, 21.02, 21.11, 21.12, 22.011, 22.012, 22.021, 42.072, or 43.05, Penal Code; (2) a person who is the victim of an offense under Section 30.02, Penal Code, that is punishable under Subsection (c)(2) or (d) of that section; (3) any adult, including a parent or guardian, who is acting on behalf of a victim described by Subdivision (1) or (2), if the victim is younger than 18 years of age or an adult ward; or (4) a prosecuting attorney acting on behalf of a person described by Subdivision (1), (2), or (3).

SECTION 2. Article 7B.004, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows: Art. 7B.004. HEARSAY STATEMENT OF CHILD VICTIM. In a hearing on an application for a protective order under this subchapter, a statement that is made by a child younger than 14 years of age who is the victim of an offense under Section 21.02, 21.11, 21.12, 22.011, 22.012, or 22.021, Penal Code, and that describes the offense committed against the child is admissible as evidence in the same manner that a child's statement regarding alleged abuse against the child is admissible under Section 104.006, Family Code, in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship.

SECTION 3. Article 12.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows: Art. 12.01. FELONIES. Except as provided in Articles 12.015 and 12.03, felony indictments may be presented within these limits, and not afterward: (1) no limitation: (A) murder and manslaughter; (B) sexual assault under Section 22.011(a)(2), Penal Code, or aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021(a)(1)(B), Penal Code; (C) sexual assault, if: (i) during the investigation of the offense biological matter is collected and the matter: (a) has not yet been subjected to forensic DNA testing; or (b) has been subjected to forensic DNA testing and the testing results show that the matter does not match the victim or any other person whose identity is readily ascertained; or (ii) probable cause exists to believe that the defendant has committed the same or a similar sex offense against five or more victims; (D) continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled individual under Section 21.02, Penal Code; (E) indecency with a child under Section 21.11, Penal Code; (F) an offense involving leaving the scene of a collision under Section 550.021, Transportation Code, if the collision resulted in the death of a person; (G) trafficking of persons under Section 20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code; (H) continuous trafficking of persons under Section 20A.03, Penal Code; (I) compelling prostitution under Section 43.05(a)(2) or (3), Penal Code; (J) tampering with physical evidence under Section 37.09(a)(1) or (d)(1), Penal Code, if: (i) the evidence tampered with is a human corpse, as defined by that section; or (ii) the investigation of the offense shows that a reasonable person in the position of the defendant at the time of the commission of the offense would have cause to believe that the evidence tampered with is related to a criminal homicide under Chapter 19, Penal Code; (K) interference with child custody under Section 25.03(a)(3), Penal Code; (L) burglary under Section 30.02, Penal Code, if: (i) the offense is punishable under Subsection (d) of that section because the defendant entered a habitation with the intent to commit an offense under Section 22.011 or 22.021, Penal Code; and (ii) during the investigation of the offense biological matter is collected and the matter: (a) has not yet been subjected to forensic DNA testing; or (b) has been subjected to forensic DNA testing and the testing results show that the matter does not match the victim or any other person whose identity is readily ascertained; (M) failure to stop or report sexual or assaultive offense against child under Section 38.17, Penal Code; or (N) continuous promotion of prostitution under Section 43.032, Penal Code; (2) ten years from the date of the commission of the offense: (A) theft of any estate, real, personal or mixed, by an executor, administrator, guardian or trustee, with intent to defraud any creditor, heir, legatee, ward, distributee, beneficiary or settlor of a trust interested in such estate; (B) theft by a public servant of government property over which the public servant exercises control in the public servant's official capacity; (C) forgery or the uttering, using, or passing of forged instruments; (D) injury to an elderly or disabled individual punishable as a felony of the first degree under Section 22.04, Penal Code; (E) sexual assault, except as provided by Subdivision (1) or (10); (F) arson; (G) trafficking of persons under Section 20A.02(a)(1), (2), (3), or (4), Penal Code; (H) compelling prostitution under Section 43.05(a)(1), Penal Code; (I) real property theft under Section 31.23, Penal Code; [ or ] (J) real property fraud under Section 32.60, Penal Code; or (K) improper relationship between educator and student under Section 21.12, Penal Code; (3) seven years from the date of the commission of the offense: (A) an offense under Chapter 32, Penal Code, except as provided by Subdivision (2)(C) or (J); (B) a felony violation under Chapter 162, Tax Code; (C) money laundering; (D) health care fraud under Section 35A.02, Penal Code; (E) bigamy under Section 25.01, Penal Code, except as provided by Subdivision (7); or (F) possession or promotion of child pornography under Section 43.26, Penal Code; (4) five years from the date of the commission of the offense: (A) theft or robbery; (B) except as provided by Subdivision (5), kidnapping; (C) except as provided by Subdivision (1) or (5), burglary; (D) injury to an elderly or disabled individual that is not punishable as a felony of the first degree under Section 22.04, Penal Code; (E) abandoning or endangering an elderly or disabled individual; (F) insurance fraud; (G) assault under Section 22.01, Penal Code, if the assault was committed against a person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code; (H) continuous violence against the family under Section 25.11, Penal Code; or (I) aggravated assault under Section 22.02, Penal Code; (5) if the investigation of the offense shows that the victim is younger than 17 years of age at the time the offense is committed, 20 years from the 18th birthday of the victim of one of the following offenses: (A) kidnapping under Section 20.03, Penal Code, or aggravated kidnapping under Section 20.04, Penal Code; or (B) subject to Subdivision (1)(L), burglary under Section 30.02, Penal Code, if the offense is punishable under Subsection (d) of that section because the defendant entered a habitation with the intent to commit an offense described by Subdivision (1)(B) or (D) of this article or Paragraph (A) of this subdivision; (6) 20 years from the 18th birthday of the victim of one of the following offenses: (A) trafficking of a child under Section 20A.02(a)(5) or (6), Penal Code; or (B) sexual performance by a child under Section 43.25, Penal Code; (7) ten years from the 18th birthday of the victim of the offense: (A) injury to a child under Section 22.04, Penal Code; (B) bigamy under Section 25.01, Penal Code, if the investigation of the offense shows that the person, other than the legal spouse of the defendant, whom the defendant marries or purports to marry or with whom the defendant lives under the appearance of being married is younger than 18 years of age at the time the offense is committed; or (C) abandoning or endangering a child; (8) ten years from the date the offense was discovered: trafficking of a disabled individual under Section 20A.02(a)(5) or (6), Penal Code; (9) four years from the date the offense was discovered: failure to report child abuse or neglect if the offense is punishable as a state jail felony under Section 261.109(c), Family Code; (10) two years from the date the offense was discovered: sexual assault punishable as a state jail felony under Section 22.011(f)(2), Penal Code; or (11) three years from the date of the commission of the offense: all other felonies.

SECTION 4. The heading to Section 25.07, Penal Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 25.07. VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN [ A ] FAMILY VIOLENCE AND CERTAIN OTHER CASES [ , CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE ].

SECTION 5. Section 25.07(a), Penal Code, is amended to read as follows: (a) A person commits an offense if, in violation of a condition of bond set in a family violence, sexual assault or abuse, indecent assault, stalking, or trafficking case and related to the safety of a victim or the safety of the community, an order issued under Subchapter A, Chapter 7B, Code of Criminal Procedure, an order issued under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, an order issued under Section 6.504, Family Code, Chapter 83, Family Code, if the temporary ex parte order has been served on the person, Chapter 85, Family Code, or Subchapter F, Chapter 261, Family Code, or an order issued by another jurisdiction as provided by Chapter 88, Family Code, the person knowingly or intentionally: (1) commits family violence or an act in furtherance of an offense under Section 20A.02, 21.12, 22.011, 22.012, 22.021, or 42.072; (2) communicates: (A) directly with a protected individual or a member of the family or household in a threatening or harassing manner; (B) a threat through any person to a protected individual or a member of the family or household; or (C) in any manner with the protected individual or a member of the family or household except through the person's attorney or a person appointed by the court, if the violation is of an order described by this subsection and the order prohibits any communication with a protected individual or a member of the family or household; (3) goes to or near any of the following places as specifically described in the order or condition of bond: (A) the residence or place of employment or business of a protected individual or a member of the family or household; or (B) any child care facility, residence, or school where a child protected by the order or condition of bond normally resides or attends; (4) possesses a firearm; (5) harms, threatens, or interferes with the care, custody, or control of a pet, companion animal, or assistance animal that is possessed by a person protected by the order or condition of bond; (6) removes, attempts to remove, or otherwise tampers with the normal functioning of a global positioning monitoring system; or (7) tracks or monitors personal property or a motor vehicle in the possession of a protected individual or of a member of the family or household of a protected individual, without the individual's effective consent, including by: (A) using a tracking application on a personal electronic device in the possession of the protected individual or the family or household member or using a tracking device; or (B) physically following the protected individual or family or household member or causing another to physically follow the individual or member.

SECTION 6. The heading to Section 25.072, Penal Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 25.072. REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE AND CERTAIN OTHER CASES [ , CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE ].

SECTION 7. Article 56A.001(7), Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows: (7) "Victim" means a person who: (A) is the victim of the offense of: (i) sexual assault; (ii) improper relationship between educator and student; (iii) [ (ii) ] kidnapping; (iv) [ (iii) ] aggravated robbery; (v) [ (iv) ] trafficking of persons; (vi) [ (v) ] injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual; (vii) [ (vi) ] family violence; or (viii) [ (vii) ] stalking; (B) has suffered personal injury or death as a result of the criminal conduct of another; or (C) is the victim of an offense committed under Section 25.07, 25.071, or 25.072, Penal Code, if a violation that is an element of the offense occurred through the commission of an assault, aggravated assault, or sexual assault or the offense of stalking, regardless of whether that violation occurred with respect to a person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code.

SECTION 8. Article 56A.052(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows: (a) A victim, guardian of a victim, or close relative of a deceased victim of an offense under Section 21.02, 21.11, 21.12, 22.011, 22.012, or 22.021, Penal Code, is entitled to the following rights within the criminal justice system: (1) if requested, the right to a disclosure of information, in the manner provided by Article 56A.0525, regarding: (A) any evidence that was collected during the investigation of the offense, unless disclosing the information would interfere with the investigation or prosecution of the offense, in which event the victim, guardian, or relative shall be informed of the estimated date on which that information is expected to be disclosed; and (B) the status of any analysis being performed on any evidence described by Paragraph (A); (2) if requested, the right to be notified in the manner provided by Article 56A.0525: (A) at the time a request is submitted to a crime laboratory to process and analyze any evidence that was collected during the investigation of the offense; (B) at the time of the submission of a request to compare any biological evidence collected during the investigation of the offense with DNA profiles maintained in a state or federal DNA database; and (C) of the results of the comparison described by Paragraph (B), unless disclosing the results would interfere with the investigation or prosecution of the offense, in which event the victim, guardian, or relative shall be informed of the estimated date on which those results are expected to be disclosed; (3) if requested, the right to counseling regarding acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection; (4) if requested, the right to be informed about, and confer with the attorney representing the state regarding, the disposition of the offense, including sharing the victim's, guardian's, or relative's views regarding: (A) a decision not to file charges; (B) the dismissal of charges; (C) the use of a pretrial intervention program; or (D) a plea bargain agreement; and (5) for the victim, the right to: (A) testing for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, antibodies to HIV, or infection with any other probable causative agent of AIDS; (B) a forensic medical examination as provided by Subchapter G; and (C) any prescribed continuing medical care that is related to the sexual assault and provided to the victim during the 30-day period following a forensic medical examination, as provided by Subchapter G.

SECTION 9. Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by Chapters 123 (H.B. 2000), 248 (H.B. 1465), 557 (H.B. 1422), and 1145 (S.B. 1610), Acts of the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025, is reenacted and amended to read as follows: (5) "Reportable conviction or adjudication" means a conviction or adjudication, including an adjudication of delinquent conduct or a deferred adjudication, that, regardless of the pendency of an appeal, is a conviction for or an adjudication for or based on: (A) a violation of Section 21.02 (Continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled individual), 21.03 (Continuous sexual abuse), 21.09 (Bestiality), 21.11 (Indecency with a child), 21.12 (Improper relationship between educator and student), 21.15 (Invasive visual recording), 22.011 (Sexual assault), 22.021 (Aggravated sexual assault), or 25.02 (Prohibited sexual conduct), Penal Code; (B) a violation of Section 43.04 (Aggravated promotion of prostitution), 43.05 (Compelling prostitution), 43.25 (Sexual performance by a child), or 43.26 (Possession or promotion of child pornography), Penal Code; (B-1) a violation of Section 43.021 (Solicitation of Prostitution), Penal Code, if the offense is punishable as a felony of the second degree; (C) a violation of Section 20.04(a)(4) (Aggravated kidnapping), Penal Code, if the actor committed the offense or engaged in the conduct with intent to violate or abuse the victim sexually; (D) a violation of Section 30.02 (Burglary), Penal Code, if the offense or conduct is punishable under Subsection (d) of that section and the actor committed the offense or engaged in the conduct with intent to commit a felony listed in Paragraph (A) or (C); (E) a violation of Section 20.02 (Unlawful restraint), 20.03 (Kidnapping), or 20.04 (Aggravated kidnapping), Penal Code, if, as applicable: (i) the judgment in the case contains an affirmative finding under Article 42.015; or (ii) the order in the hearing or the papers in the case contain an affirmative finding that the victim or intended victim was younger than 17 years of age; (F) the second violation of Section 21.08 (Indecent exposure), Penal Code, but not if the second violation results in a deferred adjudication; (G) an attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation, as defined by Chapter 15, Penal Code, to commit an offense or engage in conduct listed in Paragraph (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (K), or (L); (H) a violation of the laws of another state, federal law, the laws of a foreign country, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice for or based on the violation of an offense containing elements that are substantially similar to the elements of an offense listed under Paragraph (A), (B), (B-1), (C), (D), (E), (G), (J), (K), (L), or (M), but not if the violation results in a deferred adjudication; (I) the second violation of the laws of another state, federal law, the laws of a foreign country, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice for or based on the violation of an offense containing elements that are substantially similar to the elements of the offense of indecent exposure, but not if the second violation results in a deferred adjudication; (J) a violation of Section 33.021 (Online solicitation of a minor), Penal Code; (K) a violation of Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8) (Trafficking of persons), Penal Code; (L) a violation of Section 20A.03 (Continuous trafficking of persons), Penal Code, if the offense is based partly or wholly on conduct that constitutes an offense under Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8) of that code; [ or ] (M) a violation of Section 15.032 (Child grooming), Penal Code ; or (N) [ (M) ] a violation of any law of this state for which the person has been civilly committed as a sexually violent predator under Chapter 841, Health and Safety Code.

SECTION 10. Article 12.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act, does not apply to an offense if the prosecution of that offense becomes barred by limitation before the effective date of this Act. The prosecution of that offense remains barred as if this Act had not taken effect.

SECTION 11. Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure, as reenacted and amended by this Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.

SECTION 12. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over another Act of the 90th Legislature, Regular Session, 2027, relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted codes.

SECTION 13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2027.